Archive for April, 2010

I went to my dad’s house on the Eastern Shore today and I took some photos of the neighborhood he lives in. I figure I don’t need many words in this blog to make my point. Kids living in poverty/near poverty in urban neighborhoods may not realize that neighborhoods like this even exist. They may think this lifestyle is for Hollywood only. Well I ventured an hour and fifteen minutes from Baltimore and I shot the pictures seen in this blog.

To get a better view of the photos, click them and they will be enlarged.

Are urban kids getting out of their neighborhoods and exploring how other people live? If not, how do we get them out of their neighborhoods?

Urban kids can grow up to live in these neighborhoods, but first we need to show them that these places exist (outside of MTV Cribs).

I got a male pug puppy about 4 weeks ago and I knew he would take up a lot of my attention, but I didn’t realize just how much (he’s taking a snooze on the futon as I speak)! We decided to name him Buddy, even though the name is a bit generic and is the third most common name for a male dog.

I’ve also been teaching and working my way through two graduate courses in reading. I’ve been learning a lot and I realized that I needed to get back on the blog so I could share and get some of the blog viewers ideas/responses.

There is a lot of change going on in Baltimore’s schools, and I want to stay on top of what’s going on and track whether or not these changes show any positive results. One very interesting proposal in the works in Maryland is a bill that would allow students to receive 100% of their education via the computer from home. We are all familiar with online college courses and degree programs, but what about offering this option to younger students? I have listened to some positive and negative feedback regarding this issue.

One issue some have is that students will not develop appropriate social skills if too much of their time is spend working independently online. On the other hand, some say that students with emotional & other disabilities/hindrances are more productive when distractions are minimized, so a virtual option would benefit them.